The present invention relates to a side airbag apparatus for restraining an occupant in the event of a side collision or the like in a motor vehicle such as an automobile or the like, and more particularly, to a side airbag apparatus including a side airbag inside of which is partitioned into a plurality of chambers, a motor vehicle seat including the same, and a gas distributor of an inflator.
A side airbag apparatus is known for restraining an occupant's body by inflating a side airbag toward a side portion of the occupant by means of an inflator in the event a side collision, a rollover or the like of a motor vehicle such as an automobile. The side airbag apparatus is housed in, for example, a seat back portion of a seat. The side airbag is inflated and deployed into a space between the occupant and a side wall portion of the vehicle body from the seat back portion by means of the gas blown out of the inflator in the side collision or the like.
In such a side airbag, there is an airbag including a plurality of chambers therein, such as that partitioned into two chambers of, for example, an upper chamber for receiving a chest portion, and a lower chamber for receiving a waist portion in an upper half of the body of the occupant, or the like. In an airbag having a construction as described above, there is sometimes a case where a pressure ratio of each of the chambers during inflation and deployment is adjusted, namely for example, the pressure of the upper chamber for receiving the chest portion that is weak against a shock from outside is reduced to be lower than the pressure of the lower chamber for receiving the waist portion, or a case where a deploying condition of each of the chambers during inflation and deployment is varied, namely a chamber of one side is inflated earlier than the chamber of the other side. In such cases, it is required to adjust a flowing amount of the gas supplied from the inflator to each of the chambers.
For example, a side airbag apparatus described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-335210, shown in FIG. 5 is known as a side airbag apparatus having a flowing amount adjusting device for the gas as describe above. In this technology, a plurality of blowing-out holes (induction holes) for blowing out the gas toward each chamber (partitioned chamber) is provided in a cover for covering a periphery of the inflator, and opening areas of these blowing-out holes are adjusted at each chamber. Therefore, the flowing amount of the gas supplied from the inflator to each chamber can be adjusted.
In the aforementioned technology, a cover, which has a plurality of blowing-out holes adjusted at each chamber, is provided such that a periphery of an inflator is covered. Therefore, the flowing amount of the gas supplied from the inflator to each chamber is adjusted. Accordingly, a structure of the cover is complicated, and it is required that the periphery of the inflator is covered. As a result, the size of the cover becomes large, and a fixing structure of the cover or the like can be complicated as well.
An object of the present invention is to provide a side airbag apparatus capable of adjusting the flowing amount of the gas supplied from the inflator to each chamber with simple structure, a motor vehicle seat provided with the side airbag apparatus, and a gas distributor of the inflator.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.